


A Gathering at Jail Rock - Etrian Odyssey Mobile Mythos

by TheGreatPikminZX789



Series: Etrian Odyssey Mobile Mythos [1]
Category: Etrian Odyssey (Mobile), Etrian Odyssey Series
Genre: Attempt of an original story, Based on an obscure and lost game, Expanding ideas, Gen, Makes mention of one original place in the EO world, Which may or may not have been just a fan made game made under the Etrian Odyssey name
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-24 18:22:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 12,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22262371
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGreatPikminZX789/pseuds/TheGreatPikminZX789
Summary: A man known as Elibom ran away from home in order to find a new life that would fit him the most without his past haunting him like a disease. What kinds of people and enemies will he make along his path to a new lifestyle? What kinds of length will he go to make sure his friends are well protected under his care? And what will he think of the new lifestyle once he reaches his destination: Jail Rock?
Series: Etrian Odyssey Mobile Mythos [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1602529
Kudos: 2





	1. Runaway to Freedom

_Near the city of Etria,_ _the morning sun had just risen in the azure sky. Its rays, shining ever so brilliant, casts itself upon the planet, as a tired, exhausted man with white hair, blue and red eyes, and seemed to be ragged to the core. He had ran for who knows how long, far from the place he had ran from...his home. Though he could potentially enter the city and rest, he much preferred to rest while heading to whatever fate took him next._

_He looked back upon the land behind him, knowing that whatever transpired there will be the only thing he has left to his name, apart from his possessions and money he was able to acquire. Very, very, far from where he stood. It wasn't a popular kingdom as opposed to Etria, but when you had ran for several hundred miles away from a place you formerly called home, you start to lose track of time._

"Fuckin' hell," _Elibom groaned, leaning into the shade of a nearby tree, gasping for air._ "Haven't ran that fast since I was young..."

_It doesn't help that the memory of what he last saw of his parents lingered in his mind... lying on their bed, unable to move, and devoid of life. The kingdom he left behind was gradually falling to an illness that had no held record of a cure. It felt...wrong._

_To run away from the life expected from his parents...but he didn't like dying to a disease that no one was able to cure! But not even he knows how far it will linger in the land he left behind. He had to run...find somewhere else to hide, and never return..._

_Most of his kingdom expected him to rule the throne should his parents pass away. Instead, he decided to run from his responsibility. For he had dreams far better realized elsewhere than having it be wasted on ruling a kingdom which was slowly dying on the inside. To explore the world...to explore..._

_He checked his pockets for the money he was able to acquire from his parents' account the moment he was able to find their vault. It wasn't enough to get him some strong as hell weapon, but it was more than enough to probably get a ticket to a boat. Hopefully, he wouldn't run into anyone who has the disease from his land in whatever town he's lucky enough to find._

_After regaining his breath, and taking a moment to mourn the loss of his parents to himself, he noticed a bunch of people walking on a nearby road, getting onto a carriage of sorts. Perhaps it will lead him to a town that is capable of traveling by boat. He wouldn't be able to represent himself as the prince of the land to the commoners... They could get the wrong idea._

_Not like he could do something about it now. He wanted to get as far away from his kingdom, now. He gathered the strength in his legs and ran to the carriage. It was the only way he could catch up to it._

"Last call for the carriage trip to city of Niranjan! Repeat, last call for the trip to Niranjan!" _The man standing beside the carriage beckoned, before accepting the cash from an approaching adventurer, standing aside so that they could enter._

_Niranjan... It was far beyond the city of Etria, yet it also was harbored near the edge of the ocean. Perhaps he can get a boat and sail out of the country... Elibom panted as he approached the man, taking a moment to catch his breath._

"You alright there, good sir?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm just...exhausted..." _Elibom replied, standing up straight after moving his hair aside._ "H-How much is it to ride to a nearby city?"

"One hundred fifty Ental, sir." _The man confidently replied. Seemed a bit cheap for anyone that wasn't rich enough to get Ental. But considering the carriage was likely filled with adventurers, he was sure that they had enough Ental with them._

 _He took out the money from his pocket and handed it to the man._ "I'd like to head there, myself, if you please." _Elibom explained, as the man counted the Ental in his hand._

"Fancy yourself an explorer, eh?" _The man smirked, noticing Eli's bag on his shoulder. The prince couldn't find it in him to explain his situation well enough to another individual, so he simply nodded in response, hoping it was enough to satisfy the man's curiosity._

"Then get in the carriage, sir. It's only an hour away, so please make yourself comfortable." _The carriage man motioned, as Eli didn't hesitate to go into the carriage, as he closed the door behind him, and finding an available seat where he can contemplate alone._

_After a couple of seconds, the carriage began to move. The scenery before him moved on by, as he took solace in seeing off the land he would never set foot in again. The forest his family often visited was going off in the distance the further the carriage got._

_And with the forest behind him, so too, did the kingdom his family expected him to rule. He wasn't quite yet free from the land he was ever-so-proclaimed to be its future king, but it'll come to him soon enough. For once...he took a deep breath and a sighed in relief._

_Although...it also did no harm to look upon the other explorers that he was heading into town with. Occasionally, he would glance over to his right, seeing the other explorers converse with the other. Medics, Landsknechts, two Hexers, a War Magus... Not a lot of variety of classes to look upon._

_He did notice one of the Landsknechts had pink hair, which was an unusual color for a boy to have. They also had heterochromia colored eyes, much like Eli, except the Landsknecht's eyes were yellow and purple. For some reason, the colors of the Landsknechts eyes and hair felt somewhat soothing to look at. Turning away from the landsknecht, his eyes turned to gaze a Medic reading a book, sitting far away from the other explorers. Perhaps she didn't like the noise of chatter?_

_Eli noted to himself that the woman had brown eyes and black hair, ending in a ponytail that she had placed on her lap. From what Elibom could glance, the book she was reading was one of myths and legends, and not the typical medical guides or books Medics would normally read daily. She, too, seemed to be by herself, away from the noise._

_Well, two's a company, as they say. No way in hell he was gonna stay silent and stare off in the distance. Gotta spruce things up every once in a while!_

_He got up and approached the Medic, seeing her flip over to a new page of the book._ "H-Hey, um, do you mind if I sit next to you?" _Elibom inquired._

"As long as you aren't distracting, like the others over there." _The woman responded without looking away from her book, only adjusting her glasses to prevent the sunlight from the window getting into her eyes. The prince sat down, placing his bag on the table, sighing as he sat back on the chair, removing some of his armor on his hands._

 _The woman had only but took a single glance at Elibom to notice how bruised and injured he had been._ "Hold on a moment, how long have you been like this without any medical attention?" _She questioned, throwing the prince off guard as he turned to face her._

"U-Um," _Eli began to stutter, having not realized the major bruises he had gotten when he was stumbling through thorns and concrete._ "I haven't... I thought they'd heal on their own, with what limited medical knowledge I knew of..." _He admitted, seeing the female medic groan and closed the book in her hands, setting it aside and grabbed his hands, bringing them towards her, scanning them and checking for any recent injury._

"Well, I'll admit, you have some medical skill, but these aren't effective in the long run..." T _he medic sighed, as she began unwrapping the bandages and medical tapes he had got on and started to replace them with a much better medical tape, casting some sort of healing spell on him before applying the medical tape._

 _Elibom stood completely still as the medic tended to his injuries._ "S-Sorry for making this rough on you, miss..." _The prince apologized._

"Medics are around for a damn good reason, you know." _The medic adjusted her glasses, as she puts the medical tape back in her bag._ "Sothym."

"Huh?"

"My name's Sothym." _Sothym repeated herself, slightly annoyed about having to repeat herself. Her glare towards Elibom made him shiver a bit. She seemed quite intimidating, despite her friendly appearance minutes earlier._

"N-N-Name's Eli." _Eli introduced himself after he built up the courage to speak. Sothym's glare quickly stopped as she took a bit to ponder about the name, as if it struck a familiarity with her._ "Eli, hm...?"

_She took a glance back at Eli, trying to get a better idea of his appearance. Apart from the hair, and earrings, hardly anything about his clothes screamed 'princely'. It seemed like he just grabbed whatever clothes fitted him for the day. But the name was quite familiar, no doubts there._

"Your clothes are quite shabby for a prince, you know?" _Sothym remarked, doing her best to keep any mention of royalty to a minimum around the other explorers. Eli sighed and looked down at the table._

"I-I'm sorry... I just...something terrible happened back at home, and I-"

"Ran away to try and find freedom elsewhere?" _The medic interrupted, seeing the prince nod in response. He seemed like he wanted to go more detail, but is holding back on information that he didn't want to dump onto another._

"Can't say I blame you. I once had to run a medical center in a part of my town." _She began, flicking her hair aside._

"Sold medicinal soaps for a time, before I found it boring and went around to several towns, being a medic for several other medical centers and hospitals before I saved enough money to get off this damn continent."

"Medicinal soaps...?"

"Some man-made soap that, when made with the right ingredients, can cure certain properties of the human body. My parents always tried their best to make the best ones around." _Sothym explained in short detail._

 _The black haired medic sat back against the chair she was sitting in, letting out a sigh._ "Sorry, I tend to ramble on whenever it comes to a particular subject." _She apologized._

"H-Hey, it's perfectly OK. We all have things that we tend to ramble on about." _Eli chuckled, not minding the tirade she was going on. Sothym lets out a chuckle of her own as well._

_Gods, it had been so long since he had spoken to another commoner without fussing too much about his title as a prince. People back in his home would refer to him by his title on an almost daily basis. Given his brother had left long ago, ignoring the social status of the rich, the poor, and the common folk felt...exciting, now that he is experiencing this first hand. A question sneaked into his head, attempting to get him to think of a different subject._

"So, why were you studying that book about myths and legends earlier?" T _he prince inquired as she looks back at the book she placed down._ "Ah, well..." _She began, taking a moment to take a deep breath._

"I've been interested in trying to find out the truth behind myths and legends, as far fetched as that may seem. Truth is...the myths in that book seemed to be 'real and hard earned myths and legends' about an Yggdrasil tree far from this continent. I bought it recently so I could decipher the myths behind it."

_Eli had only heard about rumors of the Yggdrasil Tree that were said to be around the world. Tall trees that were said to reach about as high as the sky itself. Though to think one could be near the very continent he was born and raised on? Who'd have ever thought he could hear of such a thing once he was outside his own home?_

"What's so special about this Yggdrasil, apart from the myths and legends the book tells?" _The prince inquired, wanting to know a bit more about the mighty and legendary tree everyone seems to know._

"Hell if I know." _Sothym shrugged._ "But if there _is_ something, I'm going to expose the truth with everything I got. And what a better place to investigate than the Yggdrasil in Jail Rock."

_Jail Rock? There was so much questions going through the princes' head, he wasn't sure if he could have them all answered before the end of the day._

"I...don't know about Jail Rock. Is it some kind of place or city?" _Eli pestered Sothym with another question, seeing the medic sigh._ "You sure don't know much about the outside world beyond our own continent, don't you?"

_That was something Eli was not afraid to admit. His parents kept wanting him to be a ruler, and that any information about an Yggdrasil, or myths or legends of any sorts never held any merit to being a long term kind. His lifestyle was much more different than his brother, who was more in line of being the next king of his former home than Eli himself._

"Well, if you must know, Jail Rock is the name of an island that houses the Yggdrasil tree this book claims to know the myths and legends of. Monsters unlike any other Yggdrasil tree has ever held within... And a mysterious rumor that I'm most curious about to confirm for myself." _Sothym looked at the prince, who urged the medic to continue speaking._

"The rumor, albeit strange in nature, states, 'One day, an investigation team that had entered Jail Rock's Yggdrasil vanished one day. Anyone involved in the investigation team was also taken in the dead of night.'"

 _The prince gulped upon hearing the rumor that people vanished mysteriously. It sounded like a scary story his parents would tell him to get him to behave._ "H-How did...how did that happen?"

"Nobody knows. That's why there's so many adventurers heading to this city to get to the boat that will take them to Jail's Rock." _The medic motioned to the other explorers, who were happily content chatting away the hour until they reached their destination._ "Fame...a fight against the monsters living inside the tree...or even to find the truth. Whatever their reasons are, there's no denying that this has caused the rising buzz of explorers to heed the call."

"I see..." _The prince looked out the window again, then back to his bag, wondering if this could be the opportunity to be free from the burden of being the prince that abandoned his kingdom... To runaway far beyond home and live elsewhere..._

"I...I want to be an explorer, Sothym." _He declared, seeing her turn to him once more._ "You sure you want to live in that kind of lifestyle? It won't be easy, unlike most royal people... That, and you'd need a new pair of clothes." _Sothym argued._

"I want the freedom to do what I want... If I must take up arms and explore the Yggdrasil tree, then that's what I will do!" _Eli spoke, a look of determination showing on his face._

 _Though he had little experience, he felt like this was something that could get him out of the land that was more than likely doomed to fail under his leadership. Sothym placed her hands in her pocket as a small smile formed on her face._ "Alright then, Eli. If you have what it takes to lead a guild, then we gotta find some explorers willing to join our guild." _Sothym began, adjusting her glasses once more, feeling it slide off a little._

"We got plenty of time before we enter town, so why don't you rest for a spell?" _She suggested, estimating that only fifteen minutes had passed when she looked out the window. Eli looked out the window and settling back against the seat._

"I suppose I'll take your offer, Sothym. You'll...let me know when we're in town, right?" _The prince wanted to make sure that he wasn't dozing off well past the intended time._

"Of course I will. You just seemed pretty tired, so resting is generally a better idea than wasting energy on staying awake. A good Medic can see these sorts of things far often than a rookie can."

_That was more than reassuring enough for the white haired prince. He had ran for quite some time, and the weight of succumbing to sleep was getting to him now that he wasn't running as much as he was. With a yawn escaping him, he grabbed what Sothym assumed was a medium sized cloth and placed it on himself._

_Strange how he finds comfort in doing this around other people he doesn't know, but Sothym was gonna look out for him. Closing his eyes, he dozed off to sleep, hoping to rest from the tiring trek he made through his own land..._

_Still, it baffled the medic before him. If Eli, a supposed prince of the land, doesn't know much about the outside world, it's going to be a pain to teach him all about the things that he's unaware of... But regardless, who knows what they were going to encounter out there, and the land of Jail Rock is sure to be a mysterious land to explore for the both of them. It would probably be good to find at least one member before they get inevitably stuck on another long trip to their destination._

.................................................................

"Hey, get up. We're here."

 _Time flew by since Eli fell asleep, and Sothym's voice, along with shaking the runaway prince awake, nearly startled the man. Had he not caught sight of the nearly empty carriage, he most likely would've been kicked out._ "S-Sorry, I-um..." _Eli stuttered, quickly folding the cloth that covered him to put back into his bag._

_The woman could only sigh at Eli's rush to get up. She didn't expect him to be that tired. Grabbing his bag, the two finally left the carriage. The prince looked around, taking in the sight of the city._

"Niranjan... Never thought I'd set foot in this damn city of all places... This place is notorious for being a city where living here can either be a blessing or a curse." _Sothym groaned, adjusting her own bag on her shoulder alongside adjusting her glasses once more._

_From what Eli could glance, she wasn't wrong. The city, while not shabby, was quite mixed, with buildings either built with such attention to detail, or buildings that have been stripped of its unique appearance. Some people were even trying to get enough money to get by with just to survive. Seeing a place like this himself, honestly worried if Jail Rock was potentially going to be like this when they get there._

"I've heard some people are more rich here than in my own land... And that they've even claimed to be adventurers, too." _Eli commented._

 _Sothym could only assume he must have heard outside rumors about such people living here._ "It's hard to tell when the rich can manipulate the weak commoners. That's why I tend to stick to my own damn business." _The Medic argued, motioning for him to follow her to a clothes store._

"We have plenty of time until we have to get our tickets to get to our boat to Jail Rock." _She began, looking back behind her as she saw Eli walk beside her._ "Tell me, have you been experienced in using any kind of weapon?"

"My father was once a Hero among my people, so he often trained me in the ways of the sword..." _Eli began to recall, sticking as close to the medic so as to not stray from her._ "He also taught me some skills based around the Hero class, but we hadn't really practiced them in a while."

"Not proficient in the outside world, but proficient enough to wield a sword... What kind of family did he grow up with?" _Sothym muttered to herself, shrugging it off so as to not bother him about it now._

 _A few seconds later, and they arrived at the clothes store._ "Well, we're here. If my calculations are correct, you should have enough money inheritance to afford some clothes befitting of a Hero class. Or, just whatever doesn't make you stand out as a royal figure." _She began, stopping Eli from moving before she continued from where she left of._

"Of course, if there's anything _too_ overpriced, we aren't getting it. Those tend to indicate that one is quite rich around this city, and we don't need that type of attention on ourselves, including you. Assassins can easily distinguish their target from the public eye." _Sothym added, seeing the prince nod and began to walk around the store._

_Still, assassins, in a city like this? This continent was a lot more dangerous than his parents had led him to believe. Would anyone truly want to assassinate him for wearing something so pricey as clothes? Or for being a runaway? What if-_

"Hey, focus, Eli. We don't have time to stand still and daydream." _Sothym's voice rang in Eli's ears as he turned to her._

"S-Sorry..."

_The medic can only sigh as she encouraged him to continue looking around. They wandered for several minutes before Eli's eyes gazed at a red and blue armor set for a Hero class. It was just the armor set just for him. And the price was just enough to afford. It also came with a sword and a shield as a bonus for purchasing the full set. He assumed that armory and weaponry were all just sold in one shop, so it was a pretty great deal to get._

_Sothym followed Eli's gaze as she stared at the armor for a moment before looking at Eli._ "Content with something that matches your eye color, huh?" _She mused, seeing him nod in response._

"Yeah...the others just didn't feel right for me to wear." _Eli admitted, as he began to gather the armor and taking it to the shopkeeper and exchanging the money, before heading off to a changing room. Not that Sothym didn't mind the idea, but something as easily distinct as matching eye colors felt...off, in her opinion._

_Assuming the man she was going to travel with was a runaway prince, she would at least think that he'd have the idea of blending in more with the public. Then again, given her own description on how assassins worked in this city, she felt it would've been a lot harder for him to hide had he not be by her side._

_Nevertheless, she waited for Eli to come out, waiting for what seemed like an eternity before the prince came out of the changing room with his new appearance. She noticed his hair was more refined than it was minutes earlier._ "...Not too bad for someone who desperately wants to be an explorer." _Sothym commented, seeing the prince grin in return._

"Heh, this is nothing. It's like I've become like my...father, in a...way..." E _li's cheery grin started diminishing when he began to speak about his father. Sothym was quick to notice the change in his voice real quick._

"What's wrong?"

_Eli didn't respond for quite a while, even when waving her own hand in front of him didn't garner his attention. Letting out a sigh, she grabbed his hand and pinched her index finger and thumb on a part of his palm to pinch him, as he lets out a yelp of pain and retracted his hand away from the medic._

"W-W-What was that for?!" _He exclaimed, thrown aback by Sothym's action._

"To get your attention, duh." _She countered._ "You looked distraught speaking about your father. Did something happen to the king of this land...?"

_The silence that filled the air between Sothym and Eli didn't help the tension that the prince felt about revealing about. But now that he said it aloud, there's hardly a way of avoiding conversing about it in full without tabling it for another day. With a sigh, he placed his own hand on the hilt of the sword attached to his belt._

"Mom and Dad...both fell to a disease that couldn't be cured in time." _He finally admitted, seeing Sothym taken aback a bit by the news._ "I ran away not because of a terrible life, but because I didn't want to fall to the same disease that killed my parents." _He added, his eyes gazing to the floor as some tears escaped his eyes._

 _The medic took a bit longer to compose herself than she normally had._ "Well, no wonder everyone back at home was debating about what happened at the castle... I had ignored the news and thought they were spreading rumors again." _She began, looking at Eli in the eye and placing a hand on his shoulder._

"I'm terribly sorry for the loss that happened for you." _Sothym sighed, patting Eli's shoulder to try and comfort him._ "If only I was there, then maybe..."

_Maybe the whole situation would've been different. Would it have been for the better, or would Sothym too, fall to the diseases' grasp? Too many thoughts ran through the princes' head that by the time he wanted to respond, both he and Sothym had noticed that there was a huge fight going on outside the store. Normally a huge fight wasn't enough to stop a public crowd, but everyone seemed to be watching the fight, as if fearing what would happen if they stepped forward._

_Eli saw the pink haired Landsknecht attempting to converse with two buff-looking men who seemed more than ready to pummel down the poor Landsknecht who was trying to talk to them._ "What exactly is-?" _Sothym began, before seeing Eli rush out to try and stop the fighting from prolonging itself._ "H-Hey, wait up!" _She yelled, following after him._

"You think you could try and get some of our money while we weren't lookin', weren't ye?" _The red haired tall guy growled, grinding his fists together in a threatening way._ "Yeah, anyone who tries to borrow our money has to go through the boss!" _The other man added, standing rather close to the landsknecht as they attempted to back away._

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"There's no excuses, boy! You brought this upon ye'self!" _The red haired Pugilist exclaimed, winding up for a punch, feeling his fist get charged with electricity._

"Now you'll feel the wrath of Ira's Thunder Fist!" _The man named Ira yelled, as the pink-haired landsknecht looked away and tried to shield themselves from the impact of the attack._

_It wasn't until the Pugilist's fist hit something metal that the landsknecht opened their eyes to see Eli standing right in front of him, guarding with the Hero's shield he bought not too long ago. The landsknecht was rather speechless... Why would he...?_

"What the bloody hell?!" _Ira grunted, surprised at the sudden appearance of Eli as he regained his stance from bouncing off his shield. Eli looked back at the landsknecht, once he backed off from guarding the attack._

"Are you OK?" _The prince asked the landsknecht, before hearing the other guy make his way toward him and faced the tall Pugilist._ "'Ey you punk with the white hair; this ain't none of your business! Buzz off!" _The Pugilist with dark green hair insisted, readying himself to pummel the intervening prince for stepping into a fight that wasn't his._

_Eli gripped his shield, tightly a little shaken up from trying to think of a way to peacefully resolve this. He wasn't gonna let the landsknecht get hurt, no matter what. And that was what he intended on doing._

"Not talkin' eh?" _Ira proclaimed, taking the princes' silence as a declaration all on its own._ "Fine, then feel our wrath, ignorant brat-!"

"Hiyaah!"

_As if in sync with the Pugilists taking a couple of steps closer to Eli, two bottles which emitted black smoke struck the tall men, as they recoiled back and tried to fan away the smoke that was emitted from the bottles' impact. Eli and the landsknecht turned to see Sothym wave at them to follow her._

"Come on! We gotta run, now!" _She yelled, placing the bottles of Blind Gas back in her bag._

_Eli and the landsknecht looked at each other and nodded simultaneously, letting the landsknecht run towards Sothym with Eli following right behind him. People that witnessed the scene also ran or tried to mind their own business, as if they wanted nothing to do with what had happened before them._

"Sothym! Who were those two?!" _Eli questioned as he caught up to Sothym._

"The Twin Pugilists: Ira and Gori. They're two Pugilists who serve the higher up everyone refuses to name aloud in Naranjan!" _She explained, looking back for a split second to see if the Blind Gas still affected them._ "It should take them a bit for the blind gas to wear off, so we best get out of here, quickly!"

"But what about getting more guild members?" _The prince asked, seeming to be full of questions today._

"Not the time to be asking those questions, Eli!" _The medic complained, wanting to focus on running before the Pugilists can recover and track them down._

_From the top of the nearby building, a lone figure stood witnessed the scene before them, wearing a cloak of sorts to prevent themselves from easily being identifiable. Their eyes were locked onto Eli, running alongside Sothym and the landsknecht that he had saved, seeing them run as fast as possible, before disappearing behind several buildings that blocked the figures' sight._

"...Target acquired."

............................................................................

_Eli took several deep breaths, after the group determined they weren't being followed. Sothym handed him a bottle of fresh water that she more than likely intended to drink prior to the situation. He took it and took a few sips from the bottle._

"Next time you see someone in danger, don't recklessly charge ahead, Eli. Had I not helped, you would've ended up severely wounded." _The medic warned, before turning to the landsknecht and looked for injuries._

"Well, now I know not to try and pick up random Ental of the ground again..." _The landsknecht sighed as they stood up from having to sit down, their voice sounding a lot more feminine than their appearance led to be._

_Eli was straight up confused by the landsknecht's voice. He assumed the landsknecht was a boy, but the voice clearly didn't match their appearance._

"What were you thinking, trying to steal money from those two? That's even worse than having an assassin on your tail." _Sothym glanced at the landsknecht._

"H-Hey, I didn't know that they worked for someone higher up than them! It isn't my fault for not being told ahead of time!" _The landsknecht replied, being honest with how little knowledge she knew of the city._

"So, um..." _Eli intervened, wanting to change the subject from the two big Pugilists._ "W-What's your name?"

 _The landsknecht turned to look at Eli._ "Ah, right... It would be best to introduce ourselves now that we're out of that mess." _They chuckled, scratching their head as they took a few seconds to compose themselves._

"The name's Chimo." _Chimo began._ "I may look like a boy, but never underestimate one's looks! I gotta find whatever money is lying around that World Tree!"

_So, Chimo was not a male, but a female... Ouch. Guess even he doesn't know some people dress differently than the norm he was expected to see._

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Chimo. I'm Elibom, but you can call me Eli." _The white haired prince introduced himself, shaking Chimo's hand for a few seconds._

"Sothym." _Sothym simply said, hardly in the mood to explain much about herself for the time being. She wanted to be aware, in case the two Pugilists were out on the prowl for them._

_There was nothing wrong with being safe than sorry, after all._

"So, what were you two up to before that escapade occurred?" _Chimo inquired, wanting to know the people she ran off with. Eli scratched the back of his head as he placed a hand on his waist._

"Clothes shopping... Nothing too major..." _He responded as his eyes glanced at Sothym looking around the corners and keeping an eye on anything the Pugilists might use as cover to corner them when they least expected it._

"Ah, I see." _The pink haired Landsknecht sighed, placing her arms behind her head as she leaned back against a wall, standing near the prince._ "I've been kind of wanting to find some people to join with, but most of the people in this city wanted money, or something else that's precious to me. And both things I'm not willing to part with." 

_Well, she wasn't wrong. It would've been a pain for Eli and Sothym to try and find more people in this town, considering...well, Eli himself is royalty. He's a flat out easy target, and if they learn he's rich with money, who knows what would happen next?_

_Seeing as Sothym wasn't involved in the conversation for the majority of the time they were standing there, Eli figured this could be a chance to have someone join them so they can form a guild._ "Say," _Eli began._ "You wouldn't mind if you tagged along with us, would you?"

 _Chimo glanced up at Eli with a confused look on her face._ "Y-You want me to join you?" _A hope glimmered in her eyes for a moment, but then she stood her ground._ "Wait...what's the catch?" _She added, thinking Eli could be doing this just so spite her._

"T-There is no catch," _The prince exclaimed._ "Just a pure and open invitation to our upcoming guild!"

_Although it wasn't an entirely fair explanation of what he was telling her, Chimo did feel that his words held some truth. Considering he DID save her from a Thunder Fist from a Pugilist that was probably gonna beat her up for merely touching Ental that wasn't hers. Honestly, being alive was a much better debt than being dead; or on the edge of it._

"Alright, I think you got yourselves a new member, sir~" _She hummed, a beaming smile forming on the landsknecht's face. Eli smiled back, shaking her hand once more. That's two more to find, at least, from his prior knowledge on how guilds work._

 _The prince had hardly felt Sothym's pressense, as he quickly noticed her standing right next to him._ "You two done with your little meet-and-greet?" _The medic inquired, as both the prince and landsknecht separated their hands from the other._

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Chimo, but I'm afraid Eli and I must-"

"She's coming along with us, Sothym."

"She's _what_ now?"

 _Sothym blinked as she and Eli glanced at each other._ "She's coming along with us; as part of our guild." _Eli explained, smirking a little as he watched Sothym silently question how she wasn't hearing the conversation behind her._

 _She eventually lets out a sigh, seeming to discard the question she was thinking about._ "Okay then, guild leader," _Sothym began, wanting to get back to her prior point of discussion._ "With one guild member down, we'd need at least two more to properly form a guild."

"I know two people who we can get on the guild!" _Chimo chirped, as the prince glanced back at the cheery landsknecht._ "You do?"

 _The pink haired landsknecht nodded in return._ "You see, I was invited here by a friend so we can set off to explore to lands unknown, and he wanted me to try and find any potential guild members on my way over." _She started, as Sothym placed her hands in her pocket as she listened to Chimo._

"He should be waiting near the ticket center, so we should head over there right away." _Chimo continued, walking past Eli and Sothym._ "C'mon, I'll show you the way to the ticket center!" _With that, the landsknecht began to walk on ahead, as Sothym and Eli soon followed behind._

 _To think that had he not ran away from home, he would have not met up with these two at all. He would have likely had a damn terrible time trying to get by all on his lonesome._ _The prince had no idea what awaited him from the remainder of today onward..._


	2. Thrice the Auditions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chimo leads Eli and Sothym to where her friends were waiting, and introduces them to the prince and medic. But even after the introductions, their little plight from hours earlier catches up...

"Ugh, this crowd is so tough to see through! Move it already!"

_Chimo groaned in disgust after trying for several seconds to see if her friend was in the crowd, or beyond it. The sounds of the conversations between explorers waiting in line were quite loud, as the lines were separate, but altogether, it was quite hard to hear any single individual. One would have to be very close to another just to hear them._

_The prince and Sothym can see many variety of classes and races here than in the carriage. Some with canine-like ears, bunny-like ears, anthropomorphic animals, people with pointed ears longer than anyone else, and a couple of them having some sort of large coffins associated with them. Then, some classes like medics, hexers, and even some sovereigns were among them. A lot of what the white haired prince saw, were completely new to him. He wished he had the time to look more into their classes in books._

_The pink haired landsknecht tried several more times to get people to move out of the way so she can see through. Despite her persistence, they hardly budged, only moving when someone way in front of them moved up._

"I don't think they can hear you, Chimo..." _Eli concluded, after her last attempt of trying failed._

"To be fair," _Sothym began._ "It is kind of hard to hear anyone above the chatter here..."

_Moments after she spoke, the three of them heard barking, but whereas Sothym and Eli were unable to determine where it came from, Chimo seemed to determine where it was coming from._

"Ah, that must be Flow!" _Chimo gasped, jumping a bit in joy as she can still hear Flow's barking._

"Flow?"

That's the name of my pet!" _The landsknecht responded, moving two people aside to make room for Sothym and Eli to follow her._

"Come on!"

_Not wanting to question her means of getting around a crowd as big as this, the medic and prince followed her through, eventually getting to an area less crowded and noisy than the building inside. Chimo knelt on one knee as a blue wolf approached and licked her cheek, causing her to giggle with glee._

"H-hey, cut it out, Flow!"

_Eli had to take a few seconds looking at the beast before being blunt with what he was about to say._ "I...thought that was a dog, not a wolf."

_After all, all he ever saw in the kingdom were dogs, not wolves. His mother told him that wild wolves don't make for very good pets, because they kill livestock. Hell, even a few cases his father had were regarding this case alone when he was young, so he had no idea that such a possibility existed until now._

"Well, there are such things as pet wolves." _The black haired medic began._ "There's also pet bears, pet tigers, and even pet pandas. People say that they're not tamable, but in my opinion, they just flat out never bothered to try having one for themselves."

"Whaaaaaaa-?!"

_Sothym couldn't help but giggle in response to Eli._ "I know it sounds weird, but those exist. Those are the Beast Classes, to be precise."

"O-Okay... That's something I didn't know." _Eli gulped, taking a deep breath so as to recompose himself a bit._

_Beast classes... At least it only applied to those four, but who the hell knows what else could've fallen under that class category had more found their way into that category. Before he could flick aside his hair again, he felt something cold touch his right hand, seeing the wolf he saw earlier sniffing it, before circling around him and Sothym. He noted that the wolf seemed to be wearing a shield of some sort on its back._

"This is Flow, my pet wolf." _Chimo introduced, seeing Flow circle around the two of them._ "He's quite the protector to boot. I've even given him a custom-made gun that he can use to fight back."

_A custom-made gun? For a wolf? For something that already has a class?_

"W-Why would you do that?" _Eli questioned, very much worried about his safety with trusting an animal with a gun._

_Chimo patted her leg a few times to get Flow's attention and got him to sit down._ "See, Flow lost his sharp claws when I found him wonderin' about my hometown." _The landsknecht pointed to Flow's paws, seeing that they were clipped off._

"So in order to compromise for it, I made him the gun for him to use. Unfortunately, he has to stand still to precisely aim and shoot at something, but we're workin' on shooting while moving." _Chimo continued, showing the prince and medic the custom-made mechanism for using the gun._

_Thankfully, there wasn't any gun placed anywhere visible beyond what the shield hid. Some of the strings that were dangling far above the ground seemed to indicate that when placed into position, will fire upon being pulled. From the marks of teeth that seemed to indent the gold ring the string is attached to, it seemed that Flow had to pull with his head to shoot at a single target. All of this was hidden beneath the shield he had on his back._

_A most impressive feat, in Eli's eyes. Perhaps when they gather more people, they could help with developing a way to make Flow be able to move and shoot without being a standing target._

"Most interesting... How long did it take you to make?" _Sothym inquired, as the landsknecht placed the shield back on Flow's back and stood up._

"It was a very expensive project, but it happened about three years ago, back when me and Flow first met." _Chimo explained, groaning not long afterward._ "My wallet was feeling pretty damn empty just trying to replace the parts that kept breaking."

_As if the wolf wasn't already striving to get to know Eli, he felt his hand getting licked by Flow, looking down to see the wolf doing his thing, as if he was trained like a puppy._

"I think Flow likes you, already~" _Chimo's voice reached Eli's ears, as he looked up to see her smiling at Flow and Eli, as the prince slowly rubs his hand through Flow's fur. The wolf panted as he allowed the prince to do so._

"Took you awhile, Chimo."

_A quiet voice that Chimo was all to familiar with, turns to see a Vessel with red hair, eyes, and black skin approach him. He also had a scythe placed on his back, but thankfully, due to its machinations, the blade part is tucked away._ "Sorry, things happened and..." _Chimo scratched the back of her head, almost as if apologizing for being late._

_Which, to be fair, she was kind of distracted by trying to grab some Pugilists' Ental away, ended up being saved by Eli, and was roped into being part of a guild by the very same man who saved her. Honestly, time can fly whenever things go unexpected._

"Well, looking for guild members didn't go exactly as planned. But these two are looking for more members!"

_The landsknecht motioned to Sothym and Eli, as the Vessel's eyes turned to gaze to the white haired hero and black haired medic. He seemed to scan them for what seemed like an eternity, before seeming to nod at what Chimo was able to find. Even if it was entirely random luck that she just so happen to ran into the two of them to the Vessel's point of view._

_Chimo grabbed the Vessel's hand and brought him over, surprising the man from his silent pondering. Sothym, upon noticing Chimo bringing someone over to introduce them to, tugs at Eli's cape and gets his attention, as Flow quickly retreats back to Chimo's side._

"Eli, Sothym, this is Tenma; a Vessel who came far away and we ended up bumping into each other one day and becoming friends." _She introduced, letting go of Tenma's hand as she spoke._

_Eli had to scan Tenma top to bottom to make sure it wasn't his eyes playing tricks when it came to seeing how much muscle Tenma had in his arms. Even the weapon of choice seemed a bit off to him._

"He looks...a bit frail. Is carrying that scythe any good for him?" The prince had to inquire, to which the Vessel immediately took as a sign to counteract.

"Hey chump." _Tenma huffed._ "Just because I _look_ weak doesn't mean this scythe is for show. I can handle holding a scythe all on my own; I've practiced ever since I was entrusted with this scythe." 

"Tenma, believe it or not, is remarkably strong in terms of physical strength. Which is quite a rarity among the Vessel race, if I must say so." _Chimo added, hinting that what Tenma said was true, and that Chimo has seen that strength before._

_Tenma grabbed his weapon and activated it for the sake of a demonstration. His stance was firm once the blade was unsheathed, posing there with the scythe open for a few seconds before deactivating the scythe and placing it back on his back._ "See? Perfectly capable of wielding a scythe." _The Vessel sighed, flicking the hair in front of his left eye, only to have it fall back in place._

"Most interesting..." _Sothym mused to herself._ "If I was a researcher, I'd jog that down, but I'm not, so..."

_Looking over to Sothym like she had something to say for a moment, Eli outstretched his hand to Tenma._ "Well, would you like to join us, Tenma?"

"Not like I got any other choice in the matter. If Chimo trusts you, then I'll stay by her side." _Tenma groaned after thinking about it for a bit._

"But," _The Vessel continued._ "If you so much as think of betraying us, this scythe will have your head."

_Eli shuddered and gulped from the threat the Vessel had proclaimed to him._ "Heeeey, maybe we shouldn't resort to threats, Tenma. They wouldn't betray us, I promise." _Chimo exclaimed, wanting everybody to get along without issue._

_Tenma relaxed a bit as he turned to Chimo._ "I know, but you never know what kind of thoughts people hide until they tell you in the act." _The Vessel tried to explain himself before he was approached by Sothym._

"Anyways, it's a pleasure to meet you and all that jazz. We should get our tickets before we forget." _Sothym hummed, pointing back to a line that was running out of explorers in a line._

_With a nod from the group, they head over to get their tickets without issue._

"Thank you for your purchase. The boat heading to Jail Rock will arrive in two hours, so please standby." _The man giving out the tickets explained, which made Chimo groan as they left the line._

"More waiting... What're we supposed to do, now? We've done, like, every introductory thing in the book!"

_Tenma glanced Chimo a confused look._ "Are you sure about that, Chimo?"

"I dunno, Tenma, don't quote me on that..." C _himo placed a hand on her chin, trying to think of something to do to pass some time._

_Well, two hours would easily go by with a nap, from Eli's perspective. But there had to be something to do. Standing around, easily won't accomplish much, aside from hurting their legs from standing up too much._

"Well, grabbing some food to snack on while we travel on boat isn't a terrible idea. I assume all of us must be getting hungry." _Sothym addressed, seeing Chimo quickly look through her bag to find nothing small she stashed away to eat._

_The prince had ran out of his food supply hours ago when he was running away from home, and although he hadn't felt hungry in some time, he was getting to that point of needing food. The walk from the food district and buying enough food- within their budget, should be more than enough to stall some time before they have to head back. Anything to waste a potential full day of waiting around._

"Everyone! To the food district!" _Chimo exclaimed as she ran past the group._

_Tenma sighs before yelling at the landsknecht,_ "Other way, Chimo!"

_Luckily, she did hear that, and stopped to turn around, walking past the group in the direction that Tenma pointed._

"Oops, my bad." _She chuckled, as Tenma mumbled about something incomprehensible to the princes' ears before the group followed the landsknecht to the food district._

.....................................................................................................

_Sothym looked at the food supplies the group gathered once they spent enough time looking for fresh food._ "Meat, vegetables, fruits, bread... Not too bad for our first outing, though I wish you would've helped with the Ental payment, Chimo." _Sothym noted, since she noticed that she was paying very little when it came to buying food._

"Hey, I have an important reason why I'm saving up my Ental, Sothym." _Chimo responded defensively, to which the medic can only sigh in annoyance, not wanting to discuss it any further. She turned to see Eli, who had a...bag of sardines?_

"...Eli."

"Yeah?"

"...Why do you have a bag of sardines?" _Sothym inquired._

_Eli shifted his arm that carried the bag as he looked at Sothym._ "Cause I wanted to try and cook fish. Plus, it's our food backup supply!" _He explained, being at least honest with trying to do more than just the constant training he had growing up._

"A food supply that may not last for all of us..." _The red haired Vessel argued, not seeing how a bag of sardines would be a good enough backup supply._

"Trust me, it'll totally save the day one of these days. You never know what the power of fish may bring." _Eli hummed, totally confident sounding to himself, but sounding completely ridiculous to the others._

_Flow turned his head in confusion, and Chimo could only shrug in response to Flow's confusion. Whatever was going through Eli's head on what he believed and didn't believe, Chimo found it strange that he'd think fish can do anything as remarkable as that. If it was a fish monster, totally. But these were just regular fish from the ocean, not monsters from the labyrinth._

"Eli, you sound like a child who just believed some random thing his friend told him that totally isn't a thing. Just how ridiculous can you get?" _Sothym groaned, as she and Eli began to argue back and forth._

_Chimo placed her arms behind her head as she leaned up against a building, making sure not to have the bags of food be behind her._ "Those two are quite the pair." _She commented, hearing Tenma huff a bit._

"Yeah... Just as long as they don't argue in their sleep..." _He started, but trailed off as he wanted to listen in._

"Eli, for one, a bag of fish at that size-"

"There they are!"

_Sothym, Eli, and Chimo freeze up as they turn to see both Ira and Gori coming right at them, moving aside any ignorant people that were in the way. It hadn't even been two hours yet, and here they are, looking for more trouble. And from the looks on their faces, they were quite mad._

"Ack! They're back!" _Eli screamed, nearly losing the bag of sardines as he catches it and held it in his arms. Sothym shook off her flinched state, and made sure Eli was following her._

"Make a run for it!" _She exclaimed to Tenma, who was completely confused on what was happening._

"Wha-Whoa!" _He tried to ask, but didn't had any chance to continue as his hand was grabbed by Chimo, who wanted to get the hell away from the Pugilists as fast as she can. Flow ran beside his owner, who had to be wary not to turn sharply and possibly trip on him._

"Where do ye think ye're goin' punk?!" _Gori shouted, which started to cause a little of a panic in the food district as everybody scattered around, thinking they were after them. Tenma soon felt his hand be free from Chimo's grip, as he looked at the black haired medic, questions running through his head._

"Who the hell are they, and why are they chasing us?!" _Tenma questioned, seeing Sothym look back behind her before glancing at the Vessel._

"I'll tell you later! Right now, we gotta lose them somehow!" _Sothym insisted, wanting to focus on escaping again and answering questions later._

_Glancing ahead, she spotted three paths that branch off to different areas._ "Everyone! Split up and try and lose them!" _The medic explained loud enough for everyone to hear, seeing them nod in response._

_Sothym continued forwards, while Flow, Tenma, and Chimo turned right. Eli turned left, purely because he didn't want Sothym to end up taking the brunt of the Pugilists' rage, too. The twins soon arrived, but upon looking upon the three paths, they were a bit thrown off until Ira spotted Eli's cape vanishing behind a building. He notified the other Pugilist with a silent point in direction and the twins headed down the same path Eli took._

_Eli could hear their huge steps, each step feeling like an earthquake was slowly approaching him. He tried to look back to see if he can see where the Pugilists were, but soon hits something solid and and grunts in pain, before looking to see that there was a huge wall in front of him. And there wasn't a single path along the way that he noted of._

"Uh oh..." _Eli gulped, turning as he hears the Pugilists fast approaching. The two of them stopped just short of a couple of feet away, panting and breathing from all the running they did, before recomposing themselves menacingly._

"Alright you brat. You may have escaped us the first time..."

"But there's no way you're doing it a second time!"

_Eli pressed up against the wall, seeing them take a few steps closer towards him. He had to think of some way to get out of this... Maybe trying to convince them would work?_

"Uuuuhhh... C-Can't we just-"

"If you're thinkin' of tryin' to convince us, it ain't gonna work, buckaroo!" _Ira interrupted, seeing what Eli was attempting to do from a mile away._

_Well, that plan clearly didn't work if they can predict it. Thinking back on his words... He looked at his bag of sardines, then, gathering the strength to throw something, grabbed onto the bag and threw it at Ira._

_...Who catches it rather easily. Eli stood there looking like he was befuddled and confused._

"...I was...honestly hoping you'd just take the hit and fall..." _Eli blinked, leaning back against the wall now that his only means of defense was in the hands of the enemy._

_The twin Pugilists had a look of confusion upon looking at the bag full of fishes._ "Sardines...? You think something like this will do us any harm?" _Ira questioned, before ripping open a part of the bag with his finger, big enough for the two of them to grab at least a handful of fish._

"Well how about you try them for a spell?!" _The Pugilists threw a few sardines at Eli, as he couldn't dodge them in time. He got pelted with sardines for a little bit before they stopped._

"D'ooooh, come oooon... I just BOUGHT these clothes...!" _Eli groaned, smelling the fish that were around him. Though maybe it could've been the garbage they were next to..._

"Well boohoo! A couple o' fish ain't gonna do HARM to you!" _Ira mocked, before throwing the bag behind him, as a few sardines fell out from the bag, all but a few amount remained in the bag._

_The pugilists then cracked their knuckles and readied their gauntlets._ "Not unless we beat you up for intervening in that fight earlier!" _Gori yelled, as they approach him._

_"C-Crap... what was that Hero cloning spell again...? Um..."_

_As Eli tried to remember, a robed figure lands in front of him, stopping the Pugilists in their place. He seemed to be a bit taller than the prince himself...and he wasn't sure why._

"Huh?"

"What now?" _Ira growled, as Gori stepped towards the figure._

"Come on, this is just gettin' pretty annoy-"

_Before the Pugilist can finish, the robed figure threw some jars at them, as the two of them recoiled and stepped back from the jars exploding on them. The green haired Pugilist began to yawn._ "...Actually, I think it's time for our scheduled nap, Ira."

"I think... you're... right..."

_With that, the twin Pugilists fell to the ground, sound asleep. Eli cautiously approached the robed figure, standing beside them as he looked down on the pugilists. He glanced at the figure looking at him and struggled a bit to find the words to say._

"Oh... w-well, um... Thank you, sir?" _Eli thanked, a little confused on if he was going to reply. The silence between them was getting a little too tense for the princes' liking._ "I-If you'll excuse me, I'll-"

_Eli tries to leave past the Pugilists to get his bag of sardines, but several spears appear from nowhere and pin him to the nearest wall._ "W-What's the meaning of this?! What's going on?!" _He yelled, as he tried to move around to no avail._

_The figure's robe moved all on its own, seeming to change into a long cape of sorts, as the figure's appearance was made clear. A tall man wearing black clothes, almost akin to that of royalty, white hair, and red eyes. He also noted that his skin color was much like his own._

"I must say, I have to thank these bumbling Pugilists for leading me right to you. Saved me the trouble of huntin' you down on that boat in broad daylight." _The man began, looking down on the Pugilists that he put to sleep earlier._

_Hunting...? Who exactly was..._

"W-Wait, y-you're a-!" _Eli soon gasped at the realization. He was quite literally staring at an assassin. Who seemed to be quite highly of spears._

_The man smirked a little._ "So, you do have some knowledge about assassins... Fairly knowledgeable, for a runaway prince." _He scoffed, as he stood before the pinned prince._

"I am Ragna De Valvatorez. But just Ragna would suffice..." _Ragna began, introducing himself to the white haired prince._

"...Not that it will matter to you anyways. I've come to claim my prize, and just trying to think of the ways I can kill you was so tough to decide, I couldn't decide on just one..." _The man continued, snapping his fingers as he made a spear appear in his hand; much akin to a Highlander's spear than the spears that pinned Eli down._

_Eli knew he was in danger, but he couldn't muster the courage to scream for help. Even if he did, it would've been in vain. And he thought he'd meet his end by his guards, not by an assassin... All that was on his mind was escaping, somehow... Perhaps this man would be more swayed than the Pugilists..._

"So, farewell, Prince Eli of-"

_Something stopped Ragna from fully striking Eli. Something about the smell felt...off, to Ragna. He tries to home in on the smell, getting close and getting a whiff of the smell emanating off of Eli. Although he was getting rather uncomfortably close to Eli's personal space._

" U-Um, what are you doing...?" _The prince questioned, seeing him open his eyes and noticed how close he was, before backing away a few steps._

"Ah, I'm sorry, I just...caught whiff of a familiar smell." _Ragna replied, trying to pinpoint something that smelled familiar to him._ "Something like...sardines..."

_Eli blinked a few several times, before recalling the thing he was attempting to reach earlier before being pinned._ "Well," _The prince began._ "I tried to smack those Pugilists you put to sleep earlier with a bag of sardines, and-"

"A...bag of sardines?"

_That apparently was all that Ragna needed to know. The man followed the smell a bit more, seeming to be a bit aimless in his search, before Eli tapped his shoulder and pointed to the bag near the Pugilists. Ragna's expression beamed with delight, immediately rushing over to the bag, picking it up in his arms._

"Oh, delightful day indeed!" _His voice, suddenly more cheery and delighted than the intimidating cold, haughty voice he had seconds earlier, echoed through the alleyway. He quickly vanishes for a few seconds, before appearing near the pinned prince, with small plate of food on a miniature table that appeared to fold its legs inward. The plate, filled with meat, vegetables, and the sardines from the bag he swiped, had such a delightful aroma, Eli tried to move towards the plate himself, before remembering that he was pinned._

_The assailant began to eat the food in front of him, leaving Eli to stay in place, pondering how the hell he could turn this situation around before he goes back to killing him for real. Gulping, he asked,_ "Um... are you...a big fan of seafood, or...?"

_Ragna swallowed the food in his mouth before he turned his slightly towards the prince._ "Nonsense! I just love the taste of sardines whenever I combine it with food! It's a rather great substitute than drinking human blood, these days..."

"Human...blood...?" _Eli gulped, trying to desperately to remember the name of those who turn into bats, and drink from human blood. It took about several minutes, but he recalled back on his fathers' words, when he was still alive... The red eyes, fangs, the clothes that Ragna bore; there was no shadow of a doubt that Ragna is a vampire._

_He had only seen them in certain books; each records of the vampire kind having reports of different hair color, yet their eyes, attire, and fangs were the only key indicators to identify a vampire. It wasn't until his great great great grandfather's age where one can identify a vampire merely by seeing smoke rise from the vampire when they are exposed to the sun's rays. Still...there must be something Eli can do to survive another day._

"W-Well, um... I-If I may suggest, there, there could be something we can discuss, i-if you're up to it...

"Oh do you...?" _The vampire sharply turned his head, glancing at Eli with a stare that the prince could only describe as a paralyzing glance, as he seemed to stop moving when he looked at him. Ragna stood up, grabbing his food as he took a bite of it as he approached the prince._

_His cloak seemed to form a makeshift chair, as the vampire sat down and continued to stare at the prince. The way the cloak moved reminded Eli of several Hexers that he had seen on his way out of his kingdom._ "Normally, when a target tries to bargain with me, they usually end up getting away and not fulfilling their promise, giving me all the more reason to kill them the next time we met. Why should you be the exception?" _The assailant continued, taking another bite afterward._

"Just listen to me, please..." _Eli pleaded with every ounce in his voice, seeming like it had no effect on the vampire. Ragna scanned Eli from head to toe, seeing that he wasn't really moving all that much, as he expected the runaway prince to be doing so right about now. Was this man bold enough to attempt to convince that his life was worth living for than the bounty that Ragna undertook?_

_It was interesting to the vampire, as he crossed his legs and leaned back against the makeshift chair._ "Very well, then." _Ragna declared._ "Explain yourself, runaway prince."

"First of, it's Eli." _Eli sighed, getting rather tired of the vampire assassin addressing him by his runaway status. "_ Second...perhaps I can give you something that you haven't accepted before, e-even if it's a higher Ental ratio!" _He continued, seeming to blurt out, at the time, a dud idea that was doomed to fail._

_Ragna raises an eyebrow as he places the fork down, his full attention being on the prince and whatever the heck the prince said._ "Explain yourself, prince." _He demanded._

"Well, what if we made a...a promise, of sorts?" _Eli gulped, a little nervous to continue on._ "Y-You let me live, a-and in return, we can explore Jail Rock and get you the biggest supply of sardines the world has ever seen?"

_Silence filled the air for what seemed to be an eternity, before Ragna laughed at Eli's mere suggestion._ "That's just rich," _Ragna sighed as he settled back to being serious._ "You, trying to get the biggest supply of sardines in the world? That'd be the entire population, mate!"

"I know," _The white haired prince groaned._ "But I don't know what else to give you. Some of the items I have are personal belongings that my family gave me, and-"

"Uggh..."

_The sound of Ira's groaning seemed to indicate that they were waking up. Both Eli and Ragna turned to look at the twin Pugilists, seeing them using each other as a means of standing up. Before long, they noticed Eli and Ragna._

"Oi, who the bloody hell are you?!" _Gori questioned Ragna, who seemed to remain silent._

"Never mind him, Gori. That meddlesome prince is pinned and ripe for the punishment!" _Ira pointed out, as Gori grinned with delight._

_Where they intending to finish off Ragna's job for him...?_

"Meddlesome pests!" _With a sudden declaration from Ragna, the spears removed themselves from the wall pinning Eli, turning his attention to the Pugilists and throws a lot more spears towards them, sending them flying to the faraway building, pinning them and catching them off guard._

_Eli was stunned at what Ragna had done. At least he was relieved that his life wouldn't end then and there. After checking for any holes in his cape, he stood up and approached Ragna._ "R-Ragna... T-Thank you."

_Ragna merely huffed a sigh, finding it pointless for the prince to thank him._ "Don't mention it. Just keeping a promise." _He replied, as Eli lets out a silent gasp in surprise to his last sentence._

"A-Anyway, we better find my friends. They should still be around here somewhere." _Eli exclaimed, as he heads back through the alleyway that he had went through, as Ragna puts up a hood of sorts and followed Eli, passing by the two pinned Pugilists._

"Oi! Get back 'ere!" _Ira yelled, struggling to move from his position._

"You know, when ye really think about it, this isn't that bad." _Gori began._

_Ira growled as he tried pulling his arm forward, only to have it be restrained to the wall._ "Can it, Gori! We're never gonna catch them in time!"

"Hey, hey, relax, bro! We'll get them!" _Gori insisted._ "...Just probably less stealthy than last time."

_That sentence only threw Ira into a fit._ "LESS stealthy?! What the bloody hell do ya mean 'less stealthy'?!"

_The twin Pugilists begin to argue, hardly even moving from the spot they were in to give chase to Eli and Ragna, more intent on trying to figure out their next move...if they ever stop arguing, that is._

.....................................................................................................

"Where the hell did that fool go...?" _Tenma groaned, looking around with Chimo, Flow, and Sothym in an attempt to find the white haired man._

_Chimo placed a finger on her chin as the group stopped moving._ "I honestly thought he was right behind us..." _She pondered, more than likely doubting her thought process several minutes ago._

_Sothym was a bit quiet, almost as if in deep concentration._ "You don't think those Pugilists could've-"

"Heeeey!"

_A familiar voice rang in everyone's ears, stopping Sothym mid-sentence. Eli, along with a robed figure, approached the group as Chimo hugs the prince._ "Thank the gods you're OK!" _Chimo breathed a sigh of relief._

_A smile came to Eli's face, glad that the friends he made so far weren't the ones to just abandon him after what he nearly went through. Sothym tried to decipher who the robed figure is, hearing Flow growl a bit._ "So uh, mind introducing your robed friend to us?" _Sothym inquired, as Eli heard the man beside him sigh._

"I suppose this robe does feel to boldish to wear in the shade of the sun." _Ragna scoffed, snapping his fingers as the robe begins to contort and move on its own, forming back to the vampire's cape._

"What the-?!" _Sothym, Tenma, and Chimo exclaimed at once, quite surprised at the reveal. To think that Eli had found a vampire in a city like this..._

_It didn't take Chimo long to recover from her shocked expression._ "Holy crap Eli! What can't you do?!" _She beamed, excitement flowing in her voice._

"Never mind that," _Sothym began, her gaze fixated on the prince._ "How the hell did you manage to escape from the Pugilists?"

_With a groan, Eli explained how he brought the Pugilists into the alleyway he was in, and how Ragna, after some last minute decision making, tagged along and pinned the Pugilists to a wall as a means of stalling for time. The red haired Vessel tried desperately to grasp the situation the prince had described._

"So," _Tenma started, having some time to comprehend Eli's story._ "In exchange for keeping you alive, you're not only bringing him with us, but are going to get more sardines for him...?"

_Eli nodded in response._ "Apparently it's his favorite food topping." _The prince commented, hearing Ragna exclaim 'hey' in response, not liking that little fact to be blurted aloud. Of course, Eli couldn't help but chuckle._

"Well...it's certainly nice to meet you, Ragna." _Sothym began, her more serious side coming out again._ "The name's Sothym." _She introduced herself properly to the vampire, shaking his hand before moving aside as Chimo took her place._

_Although Chimo outstretched her hand first, it took Ragna a few seconds to decide if he wanted to shake hands again or not. He merely did one out of mere instinct, so Ragna didn't understand why he was suddenly hesitating now. But knowing that it'd probably be rude to leave someone without shaking their hand, the vampire lets out a sigh as he begins to shake the landsknecht's hand._

"I'm Chimo, and this is Flow, my pet wolf!" _Chimo introduced, as Flow took several seconds to sniff Ragna, before letting out a bark. The two separated from the handshake as the vampire glances over to the Vessel._

_Noticing the attention, the Vessel glanced up a bit, staring at the vampire assassin._ "And I'm Tenma." _Tenma introduced, looking back at something he was seeing in the corner of his eye._ "A pleasure to meet you, I guess." _He continued, starting to sound a bit cold to the vampire in front of him._

_The vampire would've snapped at Tenma for not paying full attention to him, but he let it slide just this once, given that they are just introducing each other._ "Well, it certainly is wonderful to meet the runaway princes' friends." _Ragna spoke aloud, unaware of what he just declared, as Chimo's gasp of realization quickly made the vampire regret it quite quickly._

"Ohmigosh, nobody told me that Eli's a pr-!!!"

_Chimo was silenced by Sothym and Ragna, as both of their hands covered the landsknecht's mouth._ "Keep it down for fucks sake." _Sothym whispered, wanting the landsknecht to be more quiet on how she spoke that sentence. Once she and Ragna got the landsknecht's assurance that she'll keep her voice down, they moved their hands away, permitting the landsknecht to speak again._

"E-Eli's a prince...?" _Chimo whispered at a volume the group can hear, without having other people eavesdropping in on._

"I'll be honest," _Tenma began._ "He doesn't seem to be a prince with the get up he has."

_Sothym placed a hand on her hip as her eyes gazed at the red haired Vessel._ "Exactly what I had said to him earlier when we met." _She recalled, back when Chimo was also on the same carriage as her and Eli._ "We tried to make him blend in with the general public, but I guess it was just crazy enough to have an assassin join us."

_Ragna could only smirk at the Medic's comment._ "Just as long as nobody else with ill intent knows about Eli's status, things should be relatively fine." _At least, the vampire had hoped no one else would dare to kill his original target. If they did, they'd have to go through him, first._

"Attention; the boat to Jail Rock will arrive soon. Please head to the port as soon as possible."

_The announcer's voice rang through several speakers, catching everyone's attention, especially catching the shopkeepers off a bit._ "Repeat, the boat to Jail Rock will be arriving soon." _The voice repeated, before seeming to hang up, as the other explorers started to hurry up whatever they were doing prior to the announcement._

"Ack, it's getting close! We better go!" _Chimo yelped, rushing off in the wrong direction at first, before recalling the path to the dock._

_Tenma gained a surprise face as he notice Chimo almost spilling the bags of food they bought, as he began to run after the landsknecht._ "Wait a second Chimo, don't spill the food we got!" _He yelled, as Flow began to tail the Vessel and its owner._

"Well, a sixth guild member isn't what I expected," _Sothym pondered aloud._ "But unless we get four more, I wouldn't say that we'd have enough for a set of ten explorers for our guild." _She continued, positive that there would barely be the time to get some other guild members before they enter Jail Rock._

_Eli gave the Medic an assuring pat on her back._ "It'll be fine, Sothym. Everything will work out all on its own...in due time." _He said, starting to doubt his own word choice at the end._

"And here I thought I was the most serious one of the group..." _Sothym groaned, face palming and shaking her head, before taking a deep breath and began to follow everyone else, who were quite ahead of them._ "Come on, you two; that boat won't wait all day."

_No need to tell them twice. Eli began to walk beside Sothym as Ragna covers himself with his robe and followed the two of them. Jail Rock was calling, and they didn't want to try and keep it from being as delayed as possible._


End file.
